My dog has IMHA. Is her wobbling and stumbling a sign it's worsening?

Question

My dog has just been diagnosed with IMHA. Her blood values are as follows: RBC 4.5, Hemoglobin 100, Hematocrit 0.26, MCV 57.1, Platelets 283. She is an older dog. She is still eating, her mucus membranes are mostly normal in colour, as.e with her urine. Since she has severe arthritis, my vet is concerned about taking her off her NSAIDS to put her on pred. My question is Today, she was wobbly, and stumbled a bit while doing her business. Is this a possible sign the bloodwork is worse. Pet's info: Dog | Rottweiler | Female | spayed

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) · Accepted Answer

Poor Chantilly, i am sure you are quite worried about her. If your girl has IMHA what this means is that her body is attacking and destroying her own red blood cells. If enough are lost it will make her anemic which can cause the symptoms you report. IMHA can arise without a cause (idiopathic) but many diseases can also cause it as well (secondary IMHA) and low red count is not always IMHA (low red count just means we need to find out where they went or if the body is not producing them). The safest plan would be to have her red count rechecked to see if this is contributing to her symptoms. Pets with IMHA are treated with pred typically but other meds can be used and some cases are more severe then others. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

My dog has IMHA. Is her wobbling and stumbling a sign it's worsening?

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